The 30-year-old Slovakian international, who has been playing second fiddle to first-choice Vyacheslav Malafeev at Zenit, had been granted permission to leave the UEFA Cup holders in January, with both Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City strongly linked with the Bratislava-born glove-man.
However, with Chelsea offloading Italian goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini to Spurs, the Blues were short of a stopper and Contofalsky confirmed he was expecting to relocate to Stamford Bridge, only for the deal to fall through at the last minute.
"Unfortunately, the transfer fell through," he told Slovakian newspaper Korzar. "I don't know the exact reason why it has. It seemed that I would fly to England on the transfer deadline day. However, it did not turn out that way.
"My agent called me to tell that the deal was practically done but eventually I did not go there. I had been prepared to move. Anyway, I am not at Chelsea and I have not been looking for the reason why.
"A week ahead of the proposed transfer my agents were telling me about it. When I was flying home from Dubai and was in Frankfurt, my agent called me that everything was heading towards my move to Chelsea and that we would fly into London on Sunday.
"We were waiting for a call from Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon to confirm that. However, he did not call as they decided not to sign any other goalkeeper, keeping Hilario as number two."
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